2006-2007 Review: Reflection from Polardin

It’s been thirteen months now since I took the plunge and dived "nine below zero". I have to say it’s been a lot of fun right from the start, which was an away game at Daisy Hill last season where 17 spectators saw a fantastic game...and they ran out of pies at half time!

It was a tentative start, but as the upper leagues continue to eat themselves with greed and implode with ineptitude, it was an inevitable and necessary change to my football-following habits. We only caught the end of last season but it was enough to get the bug!!

So what are my personal highlights of my first full season?

A fantastic start to the season! Six goals in the first three games and four wins. With the strike partnership of Vinnie Braine and Dean Martin we seemed to have a magic formula; four of those six goals were scored by the dynamic duo and we knocked the Div 2 champions-to-be out of the Cheshire Senior Cup on their own ground! Even the 2-3 reverse at Runcorn - who would also be promoted - was a fantastic performance.

We'd also progressed in the FA Cup. That was a great day beating Crook Town; so many stories and memories from that day alone. Ok, we lost 0-6 in the next round but it was Alsager after all and they were really good. Then another cup defeat to Stalybridge in the Cheshire Senior'. Sorry I missed this one - sounded like a cracker with Cheadle pushing them all the way.

Then the dark days. No win from September to November.

But even in these times there were some tremendous games and, to the credit of our players, we never gave up. We might have lost our heads at times, but never our belief. Take the Holker away game. Probably the best away-day of the season: breakfast with the players, an epic journey and a game where we were robbed; we could have won 2-0 - all of their goals were gifts! Our away days were - and will always be, I feel - the best. The flags and our vocal chords come into their own.

By December it was sad that we were out of all cup competitions. Probably my biggest disappointment of the season was not having a good cup run, but it wasn't for the want of trying.

We started 2007 undefeated in the whole of January. Some great games with Holker (3-3) and Daisy Hill (3-0).

Oldham Town away: another amazing day. Down to nine men and 0-4 down. A goal from us at that point sums up all that is best about our game - when it is on song we never give up! I’ve never seen us drop our heads. Lose them, yes, but not drop. That should be our motto!

Padiham's 5-0 win and later 3-1 win at Park Road were low points. Vinnie Braine reminding us of what could have been. But what a great team they are.

At the end of the season we seemed to run out of steam, which wasn't surprising when we were down to eleven players and had to face all the top teams in our last fixtures...and we didn’t have a lot to play for.

So, my "top ten" Cheadle moments of the season:
1. The 1-0 win at Winsford United in the Cheshire Senior Cup
2. Holker away - a great day out, despite the result
3. Crook Town (3-1) in the FA Cup
4. Lindon's goal at Eccleshall...in fact the whole trip, the game and the result. One of our best displays of the season
5. Deano's hat-trick at Daisy Hill
6. Trevor's touchline tantrums
7. The 'doubles' over Daisy Hill etc…
8. Ben Roberts' sending off for the reason given by the liner: “fed up of you”!
9. Scoring a goal when we were 0-4 down at Oldham Town and down to nine men. That showed real character. Cheadle character
10. The fact that I only saw one goalless game involving Cheadle all season

My non-Cheadle top ten moments of the season:
1. Having to go to Accrington twice in one day to see Great Harwood v CTFC as the kick-off time had been changed. Okay, this was last season, but I'm sneaking it in anyway.
2. Winsford United v New Mills, Div 2 Trophy Semi-Final 2nd leg and Carlos Meakin's clinching goal
3. The England amateur game at Burton Albion FC - another great away day
4. Marske v Skelmersdale - discovering where Tosin Onibudo had got to!
5. Singing in the rain, Chadderton away
6. The cold at Oldham Town
7. The players that came and went
8. Learning about this league from The Pole and how it works
9. The "league-hoppers" - the people who travel from ground-to-ground as a hobby
10. The lack of diving at this level

We have a real good core group of players and a dedicated management team. Trevor's team talks must be legendary just look at those 2nd half goal statistics. It’s a mad mad mad mad world and I love it!